Director: Rian Johnson
Distributor: Belga Home Video
Duration: 131 minutes
Knives Out (DVD) – Movie Review
The detective genre can be divided into different subcategories, such as thrillers, realistic dramas and of course the somewhat typical whodunit formula. The latter is always a very interesting take on the genre, but more than often these movies don’t hold that many surprises, or in the case of Murder on the Orient Express, it was a remake of an older film, which was already known to an entire older generation of film-viewers. This time we get to view Knives Out, which has a big cast of well-known actors and actresses and it tries to impress us with its original story.
Knives Out’s story immediately starts with a dead body; the body of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) to be more precise. At first, it seemed the 85-year-old had a loving family, all doing well for themselves. But nothing seems to be more true when motives keep racking up, with the only person looking remotely innocent being the young Marta (Ana de Armas). This young girl has been tending to Harlan for quite some time as his personal nurse, but also as his friend and confidant.
The death was initially seen as a suicide, but for some reason, a private eye was hired to investigate the matter. This investigator is none other than the famed Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who is known to tackle hard to crack cases. He believes there is a lot more than meets the eye.
The flow of the movie is not what you’d expect at first. The movie starts off with a certain murder mystery, as the private eye believes there is a matter of foul play, instead of rubbing of the death of Harlan Thrombey as a suicide. The overall truth is quickly revealed to the viewer, and you supposedly think it will all fall into place just as the movie reveals. Nothing is less true, as from then on out, when you think things will get dull, you get bits of pieces of information you immediately get a bad feeling about. This continues until the credits start rolling, forcing you to tumble into a web of intrigues and great storytelling. Despite there being a small dip in the movie’s appeal, after the original big reveal, Knives Out manages to turn it around, and make everything an even bigger spectacle.
Acting performances in this movie are spot on. Even though at the beginning Daniel Craig’s accent is a bit annoying, it grows on you, and you even start to like his mannerism before the movie ends. He brings his closing ‘statement’ well in this movie, and his presence certainly drives forth the movie. Other than that, Ana de Armas is an impressive actress. She becomes the star of the movie right off the bat, and we can’t help but believe that there was no other actress that could fill this role any better. We also see great performances by Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans, and many others. The cast that was chosen for this movie is simply outstanding.
The DVD version of Knives Out comes with several different special features, but most of them are promotional materials. You’ll find an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a trailer and a trailer with quotes from well-established media outlets giving their opinion of the movie. Other than that, you’ll have an old school trailer-like featurette, a small insight into how the movie came to life and three small commercials about Thrombey’s children’s companies. Overall there are a few snippets to enjoy, but the extras will not prolong your Knives Out experience by too much.
Conclusion
Knives Out is a very interesting and surprising ‘whodunit’ movie in a genre that often has you guessing the right outcome halfway through the movie. The movie does not only surprise the viewer with its massive cast, but also with its twists and turns throughout the movie. Each time you jump to a conclusion, it’s probably a false one, and at the end the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place, revealing the bigger picture. If you’re a fan of murder mysteries, we can wholeheartedly recommend this unique take on the genre.
No Comments